There Will Always Be Another Dawn
by xxraug-mossxx
Summary: Jane's day goes from bad to worse when she fails to solve a case in time. But when she asks for another chance, she realizes that she should've been careful what to wish for because she just might've gotten it. / Rizzles.
1. A Mysterious Case

**A/N:** I had posted this story before, but decided that it needed to be reworked. After several changes, more plot and some more changes, I feel like it has finally turned out to be the story I wanted it to be. Hope you enjoy, and please review.

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><p><strong>-There Will Always Be Another Dawn-<strong>

**Chapter One:** **A Mysterious Case****  
><strong>

"What a day…"

Detective Jane Rizzoli sighed and took a swig from her half empty beer bottle.  
>She flopped down onto Maura's couch and leaned back to stare at the ceiling for a few moments.<p>

"Yes I agree. It has been a long day," Maura said.

She sat down next to her friend and placed her wine glass on a coaster.  
>They'd decided to end the evening at Maura's place because it had been closer to where Jane had arrested the suspect and turned him over to a patrol. And now it was about time to wind down, have a drink and get a good night's sleep.<br>After getting up at approximately four in the morning and pretty much running in circles for the rest of the day, they'd solved the case only two hours ago. It had been a gang-related murder, and many of the clues had simply led nowhere. Jane had expected to work on this case for several weeks to come, but a lucky turn of events had driven the killer right into her arms. More or less.

Jane emptied her beer and placed it on the little table in front of them. She knew she had missed the coaster by mere inches, but the scowl Maura was shooting her way was well worth it. Jane grinned and turned her head to the side to look at Maura.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Maura tried to shrug it off, but her gaze returned to the beer bottle again and again until Jane took pity on her and placed it on the coaster. Maura wasn't even aware of the relieved sigh that escaped her lips and Jane had to hide her laugh behind a yawn.

"It's getting late, I should go."

"But you just had a beer," Maura reminded.

Jane wrinkled her nose and raked a hand through her black tresses.

"You're right."

Jane wasn't going to ask, because she knew Maura was going to offer anyway. It wouldn't be first time that she spent the night at Maura's house, but lately it had gotten a lot more complicated. But obviously only for Jane.

"You can stay here," Maura said, a bright smile on her face.

"You know you're always welcome in my guest room."

And that, Jane thought, is exactly the point. She suppressed the sigh rising in her throat and instead smiled back at Maura as brightly as the tiny pain in her chest allowed.

"I know, thanks Maur."

Jane got up from the couch and stretched her arms above her head. She turned toward the guest room and looked over her shoulder back at Maura who was finishing her wine.

"You did a good job today. If you hadn't found the DNA on the vic's tooth, we would have never nailed that guy down."

Maura stood as well and smoothed some invisible wrinkles out of her silken skirt.

"And if you hadn't figured out that he was hiding with his high school girlfriend, he'd still be out there."

Jane stared into Maura's gentle eyes and folded her arms in front of her chest to stop herself from reaching out. This was difficult enough without touching.

"We make a good team," she said.

Maura nodded enthusiastically and her honey colored curls bounced on her shoulders.

"We certainly do. Goodnight Jane."

"Night."

Jane walked through the living room and stopped at the door to the guest room. She turned and watched how Maura collected her glass and the beer bottle to take everything to the kitchen. She couldn't wipe the silly smile off her face when she slipped into the room. There was something heart-warming about the fact that Maura kept beer in her fridge simply because Jane could want some when she came over.

She quickly walked over to the adjoining bathroom to take a nice hot shower, and just as she was about to work some of Maura's sweet smelling shampoo into her hair, the door to the bathroom opened. She instinctively covered herself with both hands although the middle part of the shower stall was made of glass that Maura's wouldn't be able to see through anyway.

"I brought you something you can wear for the night," Maura called over the noise of the running water.

Jane's heart was suddenly beating erratically fast and it took her a couple of seconds to actually make her mouth say the words her head had thrown together.

"Uh… thank you! That's great… thanks."

She held her breath and waited until she could hear the door open and close again.  
>For a moment she wondered if Maura had noticed anything, but then the bathroom was completely filled with steam and why should Maura have gazed in her direction anyway. She dragged her palm across forehead and down her face. She needed to get her act together and finally get over these confusing feelings. Maura was her best friend, she valued their friendship more than anything, and she had to get those emotions back under control before she did anything she would eventually regret.<br>She turned the water off and stepped out of the shower before grabbing a fluffy white towel and wrapping it around her body. Jane smirked when she saw that Maura had brought her a shirt with a large-eyed drawing of a cute dog on the front that said 'If I follow you home, would you keep me?'.

So after slipping into Maura's shirt, she crawled into bed completely exhausted from the day she'd had. She slept soundly, content with her surroundings and with life, not knowing that trouble was looming just around the next corner.

-o-o-o-

Jane woke with a start when something knocked against her nightstand, or maybe it was her bed. She gazed around the room bleary-eyed and needed a moment to shake the fog of sleep off. She had her head buried in the pillow and inhaled deeply. The scent reminded her that she was not in her own bed, but in Maura's guest room. She slowly sat up and raked both hands through her tangled tresses.  
>She had no idea where the noise had come from, but after sitting there in the dark for a minute she heard it again, this time louder. Jane switched on the lamp beside her bed and looked around. At first she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but when she leaned over the edge of the bed she saw Bass how he ran smack into the nightstand once again.<p>

"What in the…?"

Jane crawled out of bed and regarded the turtle frightfully. She stood there until he bumped against the nightstand again and then hurriedly began moving. She pulled her pants on and then tiptoed through the house toward Maura's bedroom. Jane knocked on the door and waited, but no answer came.

"Maura?"

She turned the doorknob and pushed it open.

"Hey, wakey wakey, I think we've got a case of confused turtle," Jane whispered into the darkness.

"Mhh… Jane," Maura mumbled.

"You awake Maur?"

Her eyes needed to adjust to the dimness in the room and by the time she could see she was already standing beside the bed. Jane smiled down at Maura who was clutching at the pillow with both hands, mumbling something in her sleep. Even like this, in the early hours of the morning, Maura's hair fell in perfect curls across her shoulders. Jane knelt down and carefully moved her hand to rest on her friend's shoulder.

"Time to wake up. A certain green someone needs your help," Jane said while shaking Maura gently.

Maura groaned quietly and slowly her eyes fluttered open. Suddenly she jerked her head forward and hit Jane's forehead squarely with her own. Jane fell backward and landed on her butt.

"Ouch!"

She held her forehead with one hand while blinking her eyes to clear away the tiny little stars she was seeing.

"Jane! Oh I'm so sorry! I had no idea it was you. I though someone was in my room."

"And the first thing you do is headbutt them?"

Maura shot out of bed and helped Jane to her feet.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that. It just reacted instinctively. You know when fear overrules voluntary bodily functions."

Jane groaned quietly and pushed Maura's hands away.

"It's okay, I'm okay. Ugh… I just wanted to tell you that Bass is acting weird and you should really have a look at him."

Maura's eyes widened and she dashed past Jane out of the room and down the hall.  
>Jane followed her slowly, still a little unsteady on her legs. Her head still felt like she had repeatedly slammed it against a brick wall. Plus Maura was wearing a silken negligee that revealed more of her creamy skin than any of her usual outfits, and that made Jane even more lightheaded.<br>When she returned to the little guest bathroom, Maura was kneeling next to Bass, gently patting his shell. Jane gazed at her reflection in the mirror on the wall across from the bed and there was a red bump forming on her forehead. She experimentally poked it with her fingertips but flinched at the pain. How could Maura's head be that hard when she was all smooth skin on the outside?

"So, what's wrong?" Jane asked.

Maura slowly shook her head and carefully lifted Bass away from the nightstand.

"I don't know. I think I'm going to take him to the vet first thing in the morning, it seems as if he is disoriented."

"And you know that how? By the crazy look in his eyes?" Jane asked, but quieted as both Maura and the turtle's head turned in her direction.

She raised her hands.

"Okay, to the vet then. I can drive you."

Maura looked down at Bass for a moment but shook her head and smiled.

"Thank you, but I can drive him. I know you have plenty of paperwork tomorrow… or today? What time is it?"

Jane glanced at the clock on the nightstand and rubbed her eye.

"Almost five," she answered.

"I think I'm going to head home, the earlier I start in the office the sooner I can go home and get a good night's sleep."

"Alright, thank you for waking me," Maura said.

"Sure. I hope Bass is alright."

"Me too."

Maura smiled at Jane and then walked out of the room, following Bass who had somehow managed to waddle away without them noticing.  
>When Jane had brushed her teeth and splashed some cold water into her face, she left the guest room and followed the scent of coffee. Maura had made some and a steaming cup was already waiting for her.<p>

"Ah you're perfect," Jane mumbled into her mug before taking a sip.

Maura beamed at that.

"Will you be okay?" Jane asked as she grabbed her keys and walked toward the front door.

"Yes thank you."

-o-o-o-

After two cups of coffee she felt halfway like a human again, and she was ready to face the day. A carload of paper work was waiting for her, but since her last case was officially closed she would hopefully have enough time to file everything away and call it a day before sunset.  
>She left Maura with a wave of her hand and didn't hear from her for the rest of the day.<p>

Everything was rather quiet at the station and Jane sat at her desk for most of the morning. She went to lunch with Korsak and Frost, and stopped by the lab afterward but Maura wasn't there. So after a couple of more hours spent with paperwork, she went home that afternoon, feeling drained as if she had just chased down an entire gang of drug smugglers.

She was dozing in front of the TV, Jo napping beside her leg, when her cell phone shrieked to life with Maura's ring tone.

"Hey what's up?" Jane asked, lazily rubbing her eye with her free hand.

"Hey, I just called to tell you that Bass has received some medication and the vet thinks that it might be a case of mild dyspepsy. An upset stomach," Maura added after a moment of silence.

Jane smirked.

"Who'd have thought that turtles can have that."

"Tortoise, and well they can, but I'm only wondering what I gave him that caused this."

"I doubt that it was your fault Maur, you're always so careful what you feed him, hell he eats healthier than I do."

Jane heard the smile in Maura's voice when she answered.

"Thank you. Alright, I won't bother you any longer then. See you tomorrow?"

Jane glanced at the clock and buried her hand in Jo's fur.

"Definitely. Night."

"Goodnight Jane."

Jane smiled to herself and shook her head. She glanced at Jo who was staring back at her.

"It's sorta cute that she called only to let me know about Bass, don't you think?"

Jo cocked her head to the side and actually sneezed.

"I'll take that as a yes."

-o-o-o-

Jane's cell phone rang at exactly six-thirty the next morning. She groaned quietly and rolled onto her side. She groped around the nightstand for the device, almost knocking her clock to the ground before she pushed the right button and held the cell phone to her ear.

"What?" Jane asked, her voice still rough from sleep. She cleared her throat and settled back against her pillow.

"Jane? Frost here… we found… there has been…"

The connection was so bad that Jane could barely hear Frost, but she eventually figured out that he was trying to tell her that there was a crime scene somewhere in the industrial district. She told Frost to text her the exact address and then the line went dead. Jane sighed and dropped the phone onto the bed before rolling around and burying her face in the pillow.

It was way too early to get up, but there was obviously no schedule for murder.

Jane knew she had to cut back on her daily caffeine dosis, but as a cop it was almost impossible to survive without the brown liquid. So after two mugs of coffee, a quick shower and a donut, she was on her way to the crime scene.  
>They were somewhere in the industrial district, not far from the harbor, and all she could see were large warehouses as she drove by. The crime scene however looked pretty much like any other. Police cars and crime scene tape all over the place and Maura kneeling over a bloody corpse.<br>Jane pulled on her latex gloves as she walked toward Korsak and looked around. They were inside one of the huge warehouses. It was empty and seemed abandoned, most windows were broken and the large sliding front doors probably hadn't been locked at all.

"So, what have we got?" Jane asked.

She came to stand beside Korsak and gazed at the ID he was holding.

"Jim Abernay, twenty-five. Found the ID in his pocket. Looks like a gunshot wound to me," Korsak said.

Jane nodded and stepped closer to Maura and the body where she could get a better look at everything.

"Can you tell anything yet?" Jane asked.

Maura wrinkled her nose and looked up from the body to gaze at Jane.

"He looks perfectly fine to me."

Jane snorted.

"You mean apart from the hole in his head?"

Instead of engaging in their usual banter, Maura simply shrugged and appeared completely unfazed.

"I can tell more as soon as I'm done with the autopsy."

Jane crinkled her brow and regarded her friend more closely. Somehow Maura looked a little pale, with circles under her eyes and her hair a little less bouncy, if that was the right word for it. Jane decided that she would ask Maura later about it.

"Looks like an execution to me."

"You know that I don't…" Maura began.

"…guess," Jane finished the sentence for her.

That actually elicited a smile from Maura as she rose to her feet and took off her latex gloves. She nodded toward one of the officers and he began taking pictures.

"Talk to you later?" Jane said quietly and Maura nodded.

For a brief moment Maura looked endlessly sad, but she hid it behind yet another smile before she waved to Frost and Korsak and walked toward the front doors. Jane stared after her for a few seconds, an odd feeling settling in the pit of her stomach, but she didn't have the time to dwell on it.

"This seems like the perfect place to dump a body," Korsak remarked.

"Yeah, we only found him that quickly because a group of students received permission to use the warehouse for a science project," Frost said as he joined them.

He pointedly ignored the body only a few feet away from them and gazed at his phone instead.

"No reception."

Jane chewed on her bottom lip and looked around the warehouse one more time.

"The ID will make our work much easier."

She was sure that it would take them more than a day to solve the case. And Jane had no idea how wrong, and at the same right, she was with that assumption.

-o-o-o-

A couple of hours later, Jane was back in the bullpen. She had spent the entire morning collecting all kinds of information on the victim. Frost and Korsak had also worked without a break but they still hadn't gotten much further toward bringing anything relevant to light. Meanwhile Maura was busy with the autopsy downstairs.  
>Korsak leaned back in his chair and rubbed his neck with one hand.<p>

"Our vic worked as a journalist, nothing big though, just wrote about local events, shop openings, that kind of stuff. Maybe this time he found something and dug too deep?"

"Wouldn't be the first time," Frost agreed.

"Maybe," Jane said.

She tapped her fingertips on her desk and rested her head in her free hand. The man they'd found dead, Jim Abernay, didn't have any family and apparently very few friends. He'd traveled quite a bit but other than that there was nothing unusual about him. Who knew on whose toes he might've stepped?  
>He'd still had his wallet with almost two hundred dollars inside, so it wasn't murder with robbery either. Just as Jane was about to get up, to head down to the morgue, Frost spoke.<p>

"I think I have something. Phone records here say that Abernay called one number again and again over the last three months, and they were lengthy conversations."

He pointed toward his screen and began typing something.

"And he was frequently exchanging emails with someone too. Let me see if I can find out…"

Frost fell silent for a couple of moments until he leaned back with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Yep got it. Seems like he was working with a partner on something. The number and email account belong to a journalist. His name is Mason Chesterfield. Unfortunately the mails they exchanged are not very specific, so I don't know what exactly they were doing."

Frost turned the computer screen and Jane looked at the picture there. It showed a rather handsome man of a about thirty with short dirty blonde hair and a three-day stubble. There was a young girl in his arms who looked just like him and they both smiled broadly into the camera.

"Well good job. Then we need to question Chesterfield and see what he knows. Maybe he has an idea why Abernay was killed," Jane said.

That was a lead, even a solid one, and she liked leads. Almost as much as she liked seeing Maura smile.  
>Jane crinkled her brows at her own thought, trying to find out where it had come from all of the sudden, but Frost interrupted her internal musing.<p>

"We won't be able to question Chesterfield," Frost said, looking at his computer screen.

"What? Why?" Korsak, who'd already gotten up from his chair, asked.

"He went missing three days ago. Report says that when he didn't show up for work, a colleague went by his apartment and found the door busted. No trace of him since."

Jane raised an eyebrow.

"They work on something together and one of them disappears before the other is executed. That looks pretty suspicious, if you ask me."

"For all we know Chesterfield could either be another potential victim or the killer," Korsak said.

"But how could a small time writer come up with a story that's worth being killed for?" Frost asked.

Jane slowly shook her head and grabbed a pen which she tapped onto her desk.

"I suppose only Chesterfield can answer that question."

"Who is Chesterfield?" Maura asked as she entered and walked over to them, clasping a brown folder in her hands.

Jane immediately felt her face stretching into a smile as she watched Maura walk over to her desk.

"We think that our journalist slash victim had a partner with whom he was working on something. Maybe it was something big and someone wanted him silenced," Jane answered.

Maura perched on the edge of Jane's desk and Jane tapped against the folder Maura was still holding.

"What can you tell us?"

Jane barely managed to wrestle the smile on her face back into a neutral expression. It was so very endearing how Maura only ever sat on her desk, and how comfortable she seemed with it. Had anyone else tried something like that, Jane would've unceremoniously shoved them off her desk, but with Maura it was different.  
>Many things were different with Maura, really.<p>

"He died because a nine millimeter bullet went through his cerebral cortex and damaged…" Maura began, but for several moments Jane was completely distracted because she was simply watching Maura talk. Her back was straight, and her legs crossed elegantly so that a very smooth calf was only a few inches away from Jane. Her hand twitched and she felt the inexplicable urge to reach out and trail her fingertips from Maura's knee down to her shapely ankle.

"Yeah, makes sense since we found his brain all over the place," Frost said, grimacing.

Korsak nodded thoughtfully and Jane snapped back to attention. She blinked twice and directed her eyes up to Maura's face.  
>Maura was watching her, and for a moment their eyes met. There was something strange in Maura's gaze, and Jane had no idea what to do with it. But it disappeared again and Jane wet her lips before speaking.<p>

"So anything regarding the killer?"

"No, so far we have found nothing. No fibers or particles out of place, but I sent a couple of samples to be analyzed. There are no fingerprints or other injuries on the body."

Maura flipped open the folder and scanned the page.

"But judging by the angle of the entrance wound, the victim was kneeling down when he was shot in the head."

"Sounds more and more like an execution to me," Korsak said.

Jane nodded.

"That's what I'm thinking too."

She lifted her hand and dragged her fingertips across her chin in thought before she gazed at Maura.

"Thanks Maur."

Maura smiled and nodded. She got up from the desk and straightened her skirt. Jane rose from her chair as well and touched Maura's forearm with her hand.

"Are you alright?" she asked quietly.

Maura nodded again and pressed her lips into a firm line.

"It's okay… I just…"

She took a deep breath.

"Bass died this morning," she said.

"What? Oh… Maura I'm sorry. What happened?"

Jane squeezed Maura's forearm gently and Maura raised her other hand to rest it on Jane's.

"Thank you. And I think it must've been wrong medication, he reacted negatively to the antibiotics the veterinarian prescribed."

"That… I can't believe that. What kind of quack is that? You know, I should pay that guy a visit…" Jane began, but Maura slowly shook her head.

"It's okay. It won't bring Bass back, but thank you Jane."

"I've got some background on Chesterfield," Frost announced.

Jane gazed at Maura and let go of her arm. She immediately missed the warmth and flexed her fingers.

"Talk to you later?"

"Yes."

Maura smiled again and then turned to walk back to the elevator. Jane watched her go and sat heavily in her chair.  
>Even though she needed to focus on the case and start sorting through whatever Frost had come up with, her mind was occupied with trying to think of a way to cheer Maura up. That was how deeply in trouble she already was.<br>Jane sighed and spotted a large thick leather-bound book on Frost's desk. Just as she was reaching for it, Frost snatched it away and dropped into his drawer.

"What are you reading?" Jane asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

Frost only shook his head.

"Nothin'."


	2. Counting Our Losses

**-There Will Always Be Another Dawn-**

**Chapter Two: Counting Our Losses  
><strong>

It was already way past her lunchtime, and Jane still hadn't managed to find anything interesting about their suspect, Mason Chesterfield. He was missing, but had never before had any connection to crime. He was just a columnist working for a local newspaper and his favorite topic seemed to be the environment and pollution. And if Jane had to read yet another article about how harmful plastic was, she would puke.  
>Other than that the victim and Chestefield had nothing in common. Apart from the phone calls and emails, they'd never worked together before and apparently had never met either. The emails were so vague that it wasn't even clear if they were really working on a story together or if they were merely exchanging thoughts on the weather and the city.<br>Jane slowly began to doubt that Chesterfield was the killer, the main argument being that he had a ten year old daughter. She was staying with a friend from school for now, and there seemed to be no sane reason why a single father would abandon his daughter just like that.  
>Jane rubbed her eyes and leaned back. She had hadn't eaten since this morning and her stomach grumbled quietly in complaint. She glanced at the clock and decided that there was still time for a late lunch.<br>Korsak had already yielded to the demands of his empty stomach and would be gone for at least another fifteen minutes.

"I'm going to grab something to eat. Want to come?" Jane asked, but Frost only shook his head.

"I think I might be getting somewhere," he answered, eyes still glued to the computer screen.

"Alright, I'll see you in a bit then."

Jane grabbed her jacket and fastened her gun to her belt before heading to the elevator and down to the morgue. She had wanted to ask Maura out for lunch, so that they could talk about Bass, but Maura was already gone.  
>Jane sighed quietly, a little crushed that Maura hadn't waited for her. But then again she realized that she was already late and she couldn't blame Maura for getting hungry before she had worked her way through mountains of information.<br>Jane decided to get a greasy burger in a restaurant around the corner she'd just recently discovered. At least that way she didn't have to endure Maura's disapproving look at her unhealthy choice of nutrition.

Jane left the building and, shielding her eyes from the sun, looked around. It was a nice warm day and the weather had caused most people to take off their warm jackets and long pants. A woman who strolled past glanced up at Jane and smiled brightly at her with a raised eyebrow. Jane watched her walk by and couldn't help but grin. That was most certainly a flirt, and in fact not the first one. Several women and men alike had hit on her over the last couple of months, but she had never pursued anything. However attractive or interesting, they were not what she wanted.  
>But what she wanted, was so far out of reach that Jane was slowly starting to lose hope.<p>

Shaking her head, she walked down the last couple of steps and moved across the street. She was still lost in thought when she passed an alleyway. Out of nowhere strong arms locked around her waist and she couldn't even scream because the air was forcefully driven out of her lungs. Jane immediately began to struggle but her taller and heavier opponent dragged into the shady alleyway behind a dumpster and out of sight.  
>But Jane Rizzoli was part of the Homicide Department for a reason.<br>She went completely slack for a couple of moments, letting her entire weight rest in the arms of her attacker until he had to loosen his grip and Jane could free one of her arms. She raised her hand and jammed her elbow into the man's solar plexus with all her might. As expected, he grunted in pain and tumbled backward, completely letting go of her.  
>Jane pulled her gun out of its holster, when a loud thud echoed through the alleyway and the man who'd attacked her sank to the ground with a mewl. Maura was standing behind him, holding the lid of a trash can in her hands. She stared wide-eyed at the man on the ground and then raised her eyes to look at Jane.<p>

"Maura, what the hell?"

Jane immediately lowered her gun and hurried over to Maura, who dropped the lid and held her hands away from herself as if fearing that they could be covered with germs.

"I… I saw how you were dragged away from the street, and I had to help you," Maura said.

She still seemed a little shaken and Jane shot her a grateful smile.

"Thanks Maur, I appreciate it, but maybe next time you hurry over to the station and get someone with a gun."

"But it could've been too late by then," Maura protested.

Jane reached out and rested her hand on Maura's arm while still pointing the gun with the other hand at the attacker.

"Are you alright though?"

Maura nodded but took a small step back when the man groaned and sat up.

"Hands above your head where I can see them," Jane yelled.

The man immediately obeyed and awkwardly got to his feet. He was completely dressed in black, along with a cap shielding his face from view. But when he turned to look at Jane, his features were oddly familiar.

"Please don't shoot, please. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said.

Jane raised her eyebrows and slightly lowered her gun.

"It takes a lot more than a dirty alley creeper to scare me. Move over to the wall."

The man did as he was told and she just couldn't shake the feeling that she knew him from somewhere. She quickly stepped behind him and checked for weapons, but he carried nothing but a lighter.

"What the hell were you thinking, attacking a detective in broad daylight in the middle of the street? There is nothing more stupid than assaulting a cop."

Jane slowly shook her head and freed her handcuffs from her belt.

"Applying for a nice prison cell can be easier, you know."

The man craned his neck trying to look at Jane who was still standing behind him.

"Like I said, I didn't mean to do that. I wasn't thinking clearly. But I need to talk to you."

Jane stepped back and glanced at Maura who only shrugged non-committally.

"You can talk as much as you want once we're at the station…"

"No," the man interrupted harshly.

"You can't arrest me. Someone is trying to kill me."

Jane cocked her head to the side. She was about to put the cuffs on him when suddenly she remebered where she had seen this man before.

"You're Mason Chesterfield," Jane said.

Of course she had seen him before because she'd been staring at his picture the entire morning.

"Can I please turn around? I'll explain," he said.

"Alright, but nice and slow."

Chesterfield slowly turned to face them, hands still raised. He looked decidedly scared and there was something haunted about the way his eyes moved from Jane to Maura and back.

"He is dead, isn't he?"

"You mean your partner Jim Abernay?" Jane asked.

She lowered her gun completely and put it back into its holster. Maura came to stand beside her and regarded the man silently.

"Yes. Jim and I were friends. I had no idea that it would end like this, how was I supposed to know?"

Chesterfield shook his head and rubbed his hand across his sweaty forehead and around to the back of his head. He flinched when he touched the bump Maura's hit had surely caused.

"I'm sorry about that," Maura said.

"I can look at that if you want…" she began and walked toward Chesterfield, but Jane held her arm out and stopped Maura.

They shared a quick glance and Maura gave Jane a quick nod.

"Why don't we go back to the station and talk?" Jane suggested, turning to Chesterfield.

She didn't have a good feeling about standing in this alley with Maura and a man who could possibly be a killer. But then again her gut was telling her that Chesterfield was not someone who murdered a partner, let alone a friend, in cold blood.

"No, listen, they are probably watching everything. The police station is not a safe place, not for me. I can't risk them finding me, I just can't."

Chesterfield was getting more nervous by the second and he started turning his head from one end of the alleyway to the other. Jane raised her hands and took a few steps toward him.

"Alright, I need you to stay calm right now. I am going to help you, I promise, but I need to know what exactly is going on. Your partner is dead, and you must realize that you are a suspect in this."

Jane was trying to take this very slow. She knew she could easily scare Chesterfield off if she made a wrong move, and even if she arrested him, he might be too frightened to tell them what he knew.  
>Chesterfield nodded, wetting his lips and raking a hand through his dirty blonde hair.<p>

"I will give you everything I have, all my research, the plans and evidence. But only if you guarantee that nothing will happen to my daughter Allison or me."

Jane nodded and gestured toward the exit of the alleyway.

"Yes, of course. There is an entire station filled with police officers right down the street, I swear no one will harm you or your daughter there, but you need to come with me."

"It would be too dangerous right now, and I still need to get everything. I don't have the documents with me. Listen, I… I will come to the station tonight, okay? Allison is with a friend from school right now, and if you could pick her up and we meet tonight, I will hand everything over."

Jane was about to reply when Chesterfield turned away and moved toward one end of the alleyway.

"I will see you tonight Detective Rizzoli, please take care of Allison," he said and then started hurrying down the alley and around the corner.

Jane's muscles immediately tensed and she had her hand on her gun, ready to sprint after him. Her hunting instinct had come to life, but Maura gently rested a hand on her shoulder and held Jane back.

"I think we have to let him go. He seems to know what is at stake, and he said he is going to give every piece of evidence he has to you. We should go back and see that his daughter is taken care of."

Jane turned to Maura and nodded at her words. She was right, but Jane did not feel good about letting Chesterfield go. Her gut was telling her that something was off. Plus he had picked her when he could've talked to any other officer walking down the street, but he had decided to drag her into an alley instead.  
>Together with Maura, Jane walked back to the main street and looked around, but Chesterfield was already out of sight.<p>

"I'm glad you're okay though. It really scared me when I saw how this figure dragged you away," Maura said.

Jane couldn't help but smirk.

"That really was one hell of a hit, and with the lid of a trash can too. I had no idea you were so creative when it comes to weapons."

"Well I had to do something. I couldn't risk you getting hurt."

"I've said it before, but thank you."

Jane grinned at Maura who returned the smile with one of her own.

-o-o-o-

After everything that had happened, Jane had completely forgotten about lunch and her stomach was complaining loudly as she pulled into the driveway of the house where Allison was staying. She was starting to get a headache and decided that she would stop on the way back to the station to get something to eat. Maybe even invite Allison to some ice cream. But just as Jane got out of her car, a woman came through the front door of the house and hurried toward her.

"Gosh, I'm glad you got here so fast, I can't find her anywhere," the woman said.

Jane's stomach started to turn, but not because of hunger. She walked toward the woman and met her halfway. A young girl about ten or eleven stood in the door and gazed at them with wide eyes. She had the same dark curls as her mother.

"What are you talking about?" Jane asked.

"Allison, she is gone. I have no idea where she went. She was playing in the front yard and I just went inside for a minute and when I came back… she was just gone. I called the police and they said they would send someone."

"You did the right thing," Jane said.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No. No, just go back inside. An officer will be here soon and he'll record your statement."

The woman nodded and walked back to her house where she cradled the little girl still standing in the door in her arms and carried her back inside.

"Shit shit shit," Jane exclaimed.

This was not how she wanted things to go. At all.  
>They should've sent a patrol to Allison right away, but how could they have possibly known that she was a target as well?<br>Jane sighed and massaged her temples with her fingertips because her headache was getting worse by the second. A moment later a police car stopped in the street and a young woman jumped out and hurried over to Jane.

"Detective Rizzoli?"

Jane let her hands fall to her sides again and turned to the officer.

"Yeah. Listen, I want you to take the statements of the family, and someone should also stay here for at least a couple of days, just in case anything should happen."

The officer nodded, her eyes wide at the commanding tone.

"Yes ma'm… detective."

Jane sighed again and walked back to her car. Now she had to find the girl, and she needed to find out where Chesterfield was. But first of all she had to call Frost and Korsak.

-o-o-o-

"Tell me something good," Jane said as she marched into the bullpen.

Frost and Korsak exchanged looks, silently battling who was going to face Jane when she was in such a mood.

"Frost," Jane said, effectively interrupting their silent conversation.

He sighed and shook his head while he leaned back in his chair.

"We have absolutely nothing. We don't know who could have taken Chesterfield's daughter and we don't know where he is either. I tried to track him through traffic cameras after he left the alley but he eventually disappears."

Jane sat heavily in her chair and rested her head in her hands, closing her eyes for a couple of moments.

"It's my fault. I should've arrested him right on the spot and brought him here…"

"No it's not," Korsak interrupted.

"You did what you thought was best, and you couldn't know that someone would kidnap the girl. Maybe Chesterfield will show up tonight and we can figure out who has his daughter with the information he provides."

Jane raised her head and shot a thankful glance toward Korsak who nodded in return.

"I've put out an arrest warrant, and every patrol is keeping an eye out for Chesterfield," Frost told them.

After that the hours passed and dragged on, it was like watching a snail crawling by. Jane drank way too much coffee and yet she felt incredibly tired. Frost was still working his way through hours of footage of security cameras while Korsak provided silent support and encouragement. He also had Chesterfield and his deceased partner's phone and credit card records, with which he tried to reconstruct the last couple of days of the two men.

And Jane, well, she was doing her best to piece together every bit of information they had gathered so far to make sense of everything. The two journalists had worked together on something that has now gotten one of them killed and the other one's daughter kidnapped. That alone attested to the fact that they had found something big someone else wanted to hide and keep secret.  
>Jane glanced at he clock and it was four in the afternoon already. She had poured over the same paperwork for three hours straight and her back slowly starting aching, not to mention the headache that had taken up permanent residence in the back of her head.<br>Korsak's cell phone rang and Jane leaned back to stretch her arms above her head. Just then she saw the same leather-bound book she had seen on Frost's desk resting atop a couple of paper's next to Korsak's hand. Were they now sharing reading material and had secretly opened a book club?

She only got as far as reading the first golden letter on the cover, it was a capital v, when Korsak saw Jane glancing at the book and grabbed it to hide it underneath a stack of folders. Jane was about to comment on their rather odd behavior when Korsak motioned for her to get up.

"What? Where?" Korsak said to whomever he was still talking on the phone. He started moving about and grabbed his gun.

"Chesterfield just used his credit card," Frost said.

Jane's attention was torn between trying to listen to Korsak's phone conversation and stepping behind Frost to glance at his computer screen.

"A patrol found Chesterfield's car," Korsak said after he ended his call.

"Near Franklin Park," Frost said.

Korsak glanced at him with raised eyebrows.

"How do you know?"

"That's where he used his credit card."

Jane grabbed her gun and fastened it to her belt.

"Then let's get him. If we know where he is, someone else might as well," Jane said as she hurried to the elevator, Frost and Korsak right at her heels.

They pretty much ran the entire way down to the cars. For some reason Jane felt like time was running out and that they were already too late. But she pushed that odd feeling aside and drove from the curb with screeching tires. Traffic was heavy, everyone trying to get home in time for dinner, and it took Jane longer than she would've liked to make it to Franklin Park. She got out of the car and gazed around, waiting for Frost and Korsak to join her. She spotted Chesterfield's car along with two officers not far from where she'd parked and hurried over to them.

"You know where he is?" she asked.

Both officers shook their heads.

"We only found the car. It is parked illegally, too close to the trees, that's why we had a closer look at it," the older man explained.

He scratched his head, pushing his hat aside.

"We haven't seen anyone around."

"Thank you," Jane said and walked back to her car just as Forst and Korsak arrived.

"Where did he use his credit card?" Jane asked as she walked around her car.

Frost whipped out his tablet and answered after a few swipes of his finger. "In a sports store, he bought… a baseball bat."

"What does he…?"

A shot rang out and Jane spun around.

"That way," Korsak said and hurried past her into the park.

Parts of the park were often occupied by families who were out for a picnic and joggers getting their daily exercise, but other areas were simply too overgrown and remained mostly abandoned by people.  
>Jane pulled her gun and, pointing it to the ground, followed after Korsak. She ran past park benches and bushes, looking around frantically. This time her guts were telling her that something was definitely off, and she had a sinking feeling in her stomach as Korsak stopped ahead of her. Frost was right behind her, and neither of them could see what Korsak was staring at.<p>

"Rizzoli," he called and Jane ran over to him.

He was standing in front of a small wooden shack that was somewhat secluded from view by a couple of trees and large bushes. Jane skidded to a halt next to Korsak and what she saw stole her breath.

"Damn," Korsak said quietly.

"We're too late."

In the shack was the body of a small girl, crumpled on the floor in the middle of a large puddle of blood. Her widened eyes stared at the brittle ceiling above her, unseeing.

"God, no," Jane mumbled, lowering her gun and wiping the back of her hand across her sweaty forehead.

Just then she heard another shot coming from deeper inside the overgrown part of the park. Jane's muscles immediately tensed and she sprinted toward the sound.  
>People were screaming while she was still making her way through thick underbrush and past a large oak tree. A little footpath led her toward a meadow and a woman barged right into Jane in her attempt to get away.<p>

"He shot him," she said in a shaky voice, terror clearly written across her features.

"Alright, I will take care of this. Please keep moving, there are officers over there who will help you," Jane answered, trying to sound as reassuring as she could.

The woman nodded a couple of times and glanced at Jane before she ran down the little path, almost risking another collision with Frost. Jane nodded toward him and gripped her gun tighter as she stepped onto the meadow. The second her eyes adjusted to the now bright sunlight, she saw Chesterfield kneeling on the grass, clasping his hands to his blood-soaked chest. The baseball bat was lying beside him in the grass.

He chocked on the blood that spilled out of his mouth and ran down his chin. His eyes, looking so much like his daughter's, stared at her as if realizing that his very life was draining out of him.

The shooter, gun still in hand, stood only a few steps away from Chesterfield and he didn't even as much as flinch when Jane pointed her weapon at him.

"Drop the gun," she yelled.

Although everything was happening in a matter of seconds, it still felt like hours to her. It seemed as if she had plenty of time to study the killer. He was wearing black pants and a dirty brown jacket. He also had long greasy dark hair and a beard, making him look like any other man you might pass in the street. His blue eyes however were different, completely void of any emotion, even as he raised his gun.

"Drop it!"

Jane saw how his fingers snaked around the trigger.  
>She fired exactly two shots, and the killer's life ended right then and there, next to his third victim and not far from the murdered girl.<p> 


	3. Do It All Again

**A/N:** In light of recent events, I did think about re-writing this chapter and changing it. But then I decided to leave it the way I had originally planned it, because this is a story about hope, new beginnings and most importantly second chances. And although we are not always granted those second chances in life, I think that at least in fiction they should exist. hope you still enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>-There Will Always Be Another Dawn-<strong>

**Chapter Three: Do It All Again**

The bullpen was completely empty. Korsak and Frost had already gone home, having to fight their own demons, but Jane was still too numb to move from her desk. Her headache had gotten so bad that it was now a steady pounding on the edges of her consciousness.  
>She leaned back and rested her head against the chair. With eyes closed she tried to focus on her breathing, just like Maura had taught her, but every time she managed to calm her racing thoughts, images of the Chesterfield's daughter, Allison, murdered in the little shack, flashed across her mind. Again and again.<br>Jane raised her hands to her temples, rubbing furiously until gentle fingers brushed hers aside and replaced them.

"Let me," Maura said.

Her voice was so full of compassion that Jane's stomach sank even further. She didn't deserve it, just like she didn't deserve to feel good after she had failed Chesterfield and his daughter, but Maura's fingers were so incredibly calming and relaxing that she couldn't help but sigh with relief.

"The hospital called. Chesterfield died about an hour ago," she said, halfway expecting Maura to cease her ministrations.

But instead Maura continued drawing circles across Jane's temples and even moved her fingers up into her hair to gently massage the headache away.

"I'm sorry Jane."

"I know."

Frost and Korsak had told her that it wasn't her fault, everyone had told her that, and yet she felt responsible. With every murder she could not avert an invisible weight settled on her shoulders, making her bow to the heaviness and ugliness of life a bit more each time.  
>But when she was with Maura, when they talked, or just had a beer and wine after work, that weight became lighter, easier to bear.<p>

"You caught the perpetrator," Maura offered quietly.

"After he killed Allison and her father," Jane answered, suddenly agitated.

She got up from her chair and turned to face Maura, who was looking at Jane, not judging, not saying anything, just waiting for her to speak.

"And then he got out of it so easily. That bastard should be rotting in jail for the rest of his life."

Jane raised both her hands and raked them through her hair, realizing that her headache had gotten significantly less intense. She gazed thoughtfully at her hands when she lowered them again, watching the scars that marred her otherwise unblemished skin.  
>She just wanted to repeat the day, do it all over again.<br>Maura stepped closer to Jane and cradled her hands in her fingers. The detective attempted a grateful half-smile as she raised her eyes to look at Maura.

"Thank you. I'm feeling much better."

"You know, a headache, or cephalgia, can be a symptom of a lot of different conditions of the head and neck and by stimulating your sensitive areas I tried to lessen the intensity of it. Because the brain itself is not sensitive to pain, lacking pain receptors, one has to work with the disturbed pain-sensitive structures…"

Jane chuckled and simply cut off Maura's flow of words by pulling her into a hug. She held Maura against her chest and inhaled the sweet lily and lilac scent which clung to her hair. Jane sometimes wondered how she had managed to gain the friendship and trust of this extraordinary woman.  
>With Maura she felt like she was finally home, like she belonged and could do no wrong.<p>

"It's okay," Maura said quietly, her warm breath ghosting across Jane's neck.

She rubbed her hands soothingly up and down the detective's back until they stepped apart. Jane grabbed her jacket and offered Maura her arm.

"Shall we?"

Maura smiled and nodded as she walked beside Jane to the elevator.

"So, tell me about Bass," Jane said as the doors closed in front of them.

-o-o-o-

That night Jane didn't sleep to well. She was used to having nightmares, and she could deal with them. But the images of Allison were still too present in her mind, and it was the little girl who stared accusingly at her with those empty dead eyes. Why didn't you save me? That's what they seemed to say.  
>Jane tossed and turned until she had wriggled herself free of the covers and they were pooled at her feet. She saw the killer and his greasy hair, how he smiled when he pointed his gun at Allison and her father. Bass made an appearance too, and his look was just as accusing. Somehow even the turtle seemed to blame her for what had happened.<br>Jane woke with a start when her cell phone went off after approximately four hours of sleep. It was six-thirty in the morning and she just wasn't ready for another case. They'd barely wrapped up the last one and now she was forced out of bed that early again. She grabbed her cell phone and held it to her ear, eyes still closed.

"What?"

"Jane? Frost here… we have… there has been…"

She could barely hear Frost, and just like the day before she told him to send her a text with the exact location. Apparently there had been another murder. Jane was simply too tired and dragged her body out of bed after ending the call and dropping the phone to the floor.  
>Not even a hot shower could wake her up fully and she went through the motions in a kind of trance. Exhaustion was still deep in her bones, and she slowly slurped her coffee from her portable cup as she left her condo.<p>

It was odd, really, Jane thought as she drove through town. Usually they would not be assigned a new case when the last one wasn't even through with all the paperwork. And especially with a case as this, when a child was involved, they got a couple of days to wind down before they had to be back at work. Everyone understood how such a case could drag a cop down into the abysses of their job.

Jane sighed and rubbed her eyes as she turned onto a small street that looked vaguely familiar. She realized that her GPS had led her to the industrial district once again. And just like yesterday she parked in front of a large warehouse.  
>She crinkled her brow as she got out of the car. A sense of déjà-vu hit her and almost made her feel a bit nauseous. She entered the warehouse and strode over to where Frost and Korsak were waiting.<p>

"Again?" she asked, a little exasperated.

"Are you serious? We're not even done with the paperwork of the last case and now someone else is murdered in here? Again?"

The two men looked at each other and Korsak shrugged while Frost crinkled his brow. Jane grabbed a pair of latex gloves and pulled them on, snapping the material onto her wrists.

"Okay, what have got this time?" Jane asked.

She joined Maura and saw the victim's face. Her mouth went dry and all blood rushed from her face. Jane felt light-headed for a couple of moments and swayed right where she stood.

"I don't know any specifics yet…," Maura began, but stopped talking when she looked up at Jane.

She immediately rose from her crouch and pulled the gloves from her hands.

"Jane, are you alright? Did you know him?"

"Yes, I mean no… I mean yes. Of course I know him, we just bagged him yesterday. What happened? How did he get out of the morgue, did someone steal the body?"

Maura glanced at Frost and Korsak who had joined them, but Jane saw them shrugging in the corner of her eyes.

"Jane, I think you should sit down, come on," Maura said.

She rested a hand on Jane's shoulder and guided her away from the crime scene and back to her car. A few heads turned in their direction as they made their way past a couple of officers and their police cars.  
>Maura fished the key out of Jane's pocket and opened the door so the detective could sit sideways on the driver's seat. She knelt in front of Jane and gazed up at her worriedly.<p>

"Jane, you are not making any sense. This man, he was killed about six to ten hours ago, and we just received the call."

Jane was slowly shaking her head, running a nervous hand across her eyes. This was crazy. In fact it seemed like they had all lost their minds. How could they not remember yesterday? The entire ordeal with Chesterfield and the death of his daughter. That was simply impossible.

"Listen Maur, I'm not crazy. This has happened before, I mean the guy was killed the day before yesterday, and once we figured out that he had a partner we tried to find him, but then his daughter…"

Maura reached out and rested her hand on Jane's forehead.

"I think you might be delusional. It could be due to stress and sleep deprivation. How many hours have you slept in the past week?"

Jane batted Maura's hand away and shook her head again.

"No, no, I'm not delusional. This happened before, I mean, it happened to me… I think."

Jane leaned forward and rested her hands on Maura' shoulders, staring at her imploringly.

"Are you saying that you have not examined this guy yesterday?"

Maura shook her head vehemently, causing her curls to bounce across her shoulders. Her brows were drawn and her face the perfect picture of concern.

"No Jane. I received a call this morning to come to the crime scene, I have never before seen this man."

Jane sank back against the seat.

"Well, shit."

-o-o-o-

Jane straightened her blouse, tugging it into her pants, before she walked into the bullpen. Frost and Korsak both raised their heads from whatever they were reading. Together.  
>They were standing next to each other, gazing down at an opened familiar leather-bound book Jane had definitely seen before. But she didn't have the time or the energy to dwell on whatever they were cooking up with that mysterious book of theirs. She simply held up a hand, forestalling any questions before Frost and Korsak even had the chance to speak.<p>

"I am fine. I have something for you to do though. Frost, try and find out everything you can about a guy named Mason Chesterfield. And Korsak, I'd like you to get a couple of uniforms and patrol Franklin Park with them. I'll give you a description of who you are looking for. But first I've got to make a call."

Both of them nodded, although they were clearly not sure what to make of Jane's orders. Thankfully they trusted her enough to simply do as she requested without asking superfluous questions.

While on her way from the crime scene back to the station, Jane had stopped to get a coffee and with the hot beverage in her hands she had simply sat in her car and gone over the events in her head. The only conclusion she had come to was that she must've had the most crazy and foreshadowing dream in the history of dreams. There was just no other way to explain it, and her head was shutting down as soon as she tried to make sense of whatever was happening. So, as a cop, she had tried to work with the facts, and they told her that something awful was going to happen. And now that she was a step ahead of everyone else, she could prevent two deaths and send a killer to prison. That was worth something, and if fate, or destiny, or whatever, had decided to give her another shot at making it right, then she sure as hell would.

She pretty much had all her bases covered by the time she waited for Chesterfield near the alley he had dragged her into the day before, or today. Jane shook her head and twirled a lock of hair around her finger.

"Best not think about it," she mumbled to herself.

Maura was probably already setting up all kinds of psychological tests to check whether she had gone off the deep end for sure now. Jane smiled at that and crinkled her brow. For some reason she felt like she had forgotten something, but she just couldn't put her finger on what it was.  
>Chesterfield rounded the corner at the end of the street and Jane pushed herself off the wall she had been leaning on.<p>

"There he is."

She walked over to him and his eyes widened as he spotted her. He seemed too surprised to even move as Jane grabbed him by the collar and bodily dragged him into the alley, away from prying eyes.

"Alright Mr Chesterfield, I need you to get me all the information you and your partner Jim Abernay have collected, and I will accompany you to make sure everything will go smoothly. Your daughter Allison is being picked up by another detective just as we speak, so she will be in safe hands until we return to the station, okay?"

Chesterfield nodded, slowly, his eyes still darting around nervously.

"How… how did you know where to find me, and that I have information I wanted to give you?"

Jane smirked.

"Let's just say I am a step ahead of you."

-o-o-o-

It was late afternoon when the elevator doors parted in front of Jane and she stepped into the brightly lit corridor even before they had completely opened. With quick strides she made her way over to the nurse's desk and flashed her badge in front of the woman's face as she looked up. She had long since figured out that medical staff and people in general were much more compliant once she had identified herself as a member of the police force.

"Detective Rizzoli, I'm looking for Barold Frost," Jane said and shifted impatiently in front of the nurse as she looked at the computer screen in front of her.

"He's still in surgery," the nurse said, raising her hand and pointing in the direction somewhere to her left.

"You can sit in the waiting area over there."

Jane clenched her jaw and refrained from demanding that the nurse tell her more about Frost's condition. She wouldn't know anything about him anyway, but there was almost nothing worse than this uncertainty. So she simply nodded and walked in the direction the nurse had sent her, and when she rounded the corner to the waiting area, Korsak was already sitting in one of the small plastic chairs.

"You're here?"

Korsak rose from his seat when he spotted Jane and walked over to her.

"I got the call first, thought I'd come by and see what's going on."

"And?"

"Looks bad Jane. He was shot three times, one in the shoulder and stomach, and one grazed his head."

"Oh god."

Jane felt her stomach drop and she sank heavily into one of the chairs. This was not how it was supposed to go. She had sent Frost to pick Allison up, but instead the killer had gotten there first. The same man Jane had shot in the park before, who was obviously still just as alive as Chesterfield and his daughter.  
>They'd told her that Frost had chased the man as he tried to drag Allison away and toward his car, and a shooting had ensued. Now the killer was dead, again, and Frost was fighting for his life in that operating room. And it was all Jane's fault. She had messed up, and seemingly just as bad as before.<p>

"He's a fighter Jane, a strong kid, he'll make it," Frost said as he joined Jane on the uncomfortable chairs.

It didn't take long until Maura also appeared in the waiting room. A deep frown creased her brows as she pulled Jane into a tight hug.

"Any news?" Maura asked when they parted.

Jane shook her head and raked her hands through her hair, tugging on the strands in between her fingers. The churning in her stomach still hadn't stopped and she felt sicker with every passing hour. She wasn't sure if it was a bad sign that it took them so long, and although she knew Maura could probably provide a couple of statistics on that, she didn't feel like asking. Instead she sat back down and concentrated on the way her back ached, pressed so uncomfortably against the plastic backrest of the chair.

Maura took a seat next to her and grabbed Jane's hand with both her own. Korsak brought them some coffee and Jane simply remained silent as she waited for news. Maura eventually rested her head on Jane's shoulder and shifted so that she was pressed against her side.  
>Although she tried not to, Jane felt immediately better. Maura's vicinity was making her calmer and it soothed the raging guilt that tried to force its way out of her.<p>

So when eventually a doctor came through the green double doors, still in his surgery shrubs, Jane fought the urge to jump up and instead shook Maura gently to wake her. Korsak walked over to the doctor and they spoke quietly. Before Jane even had the chance to join them, the doctor shook his head and turned to walk down the corridor.  
>Korsak's crestfallen expression pretty much told Jane everything she needed to know, but still the words hit her like a solid blow.<p>

"He didn't make it."

Maura barely managed to stifle a gasp. She wrapped her hands tightly around Jane's arm, but the detective could only stand there like a statue frozen in time. She was numb, and her arms and legs felt entirely too heavy for the rest of her body.

"Go home Jane, I will take of everything. I'll call his family," Korsak said.

Jane slowly shook her head, Maura's touch the only thing that kept her anchored to the present moment.

"No. I should call them. I should. It's my fault."

"No Jane, it's not. Don't say that," Maura said.

"I sent him to the house."

"You couldn't have known that someone with a weapon would be there, trying to abduct the girl."

"Couldn't I?"

Jane cocked her head to the side, her gaze completely unfocused for a moment. Korsak and Maura shared a glance, the older man gesturing for Maura to do something.

Maura turned and reached out to cradle Jane's face in her hands, forcing her to look into soft green eyes.

"Come on, I'll take you home. Let's go."

Maura led Jane out of the waiting area and down the corridor to the elevator. Jane followed without much protest, because in her head different thoughts and emotions were trying to move to the forefront. Despite Maura's reassurances she knew that she was to blame for Frost's death. He would still be alive, hadn't she sent him to the house. Or if she had at least warned him of the killer.

Maura took Jane home in her car and accompanied her even into her condo. They had been silent the entire time, mainly because Jane was still too deeply in thought. Somehow she was hoping that this was just another odd dream, and that she would get the chance to repeat the day and save Barry's life. She knew it was crazy, but wasn't having a dream, or vision, of what was going to happen as well?

Without speaking Maura came to stand in front of Jane and brushed her blazer off her shoulders. Maura folded it carefully and placed it across the couch's backrest. She took Jane's hand and led her toward the bedroom.

Jane only stopped to push her shoes off before she climbed onto the mattress and rested her weary body atop the covers. She heard Maura stepping around the bed, but didn't turn to see what she was doing. She expected her to simply leave, but instead the bed dipped down for a moment and Jane felt Maura's warm body pressing into her back. An arm snaked across her waist and a warm hand came to rest atop her stomach. Jane exhaled shakily and reached down to entwine her fingers with Maura's.

This felt so right, and at the same time she wanted so much more. Maura was her best friend, and yet she was having all those feelings, romantic feelings, that she just couldn't shut off.  
>Jane cherished Maura's friendship more than anything, and even the thought of risking that, made her feel sick to the stomach.<p>

So instead she held her tongue and closed her eyes, relishing the feel of Maura so close to her. The familiar scent and the rhythmic breathing against her neck eventually calmed her enough that she could succumb to sleep, wishing with her last thought to be granted yet another chance.


	4. Righting The Wrongs

**-There Will Always Be Another Dawn-**

**Chapter Four: Righting The Wrongs****  
><strong>

Jane's cell phone went off at exactly six-thirty in the morning. It took her a moment to remember everything, and the second she did she sat up and grabbed the beeping device. Jane gazed at the other vacant half of her bed and took a deep breath before taking the call.

"Jane? This is Frost… there has been… we found…"

A small bark of laughter escaped Jane at hearing Frost's voice. The reception was once again so bad that she could barely hear him, but she was pretty sure that she knew exactly where he was.

"I'll be right there," she said and jumped out of bed.

Whatever was happening to her, if she was slowly starting lose her mind, or if something so incredibly odd was going on that she would need to start reading books about magic, the one thing she knew was that she did get that chance she'd asked for, and this time she had to make it work. Without even taking the time to make some coffee, Jane hastily threw on some clothes and left her condo not long after she'd ended the call with Frost. She sped to the warehouse in the industrial district and the crime scene looked exactly like she remembered it.  
>Jane jumped out of her car and hastened past a couple of officers and toward Frost. Korsak and Frost were looking at her when she approached, and neither seemed to expect the blindingly bright smile that spread across her features.<p>

"Barry, it's good to see you," Jane said.

She rested both hands on his shoulders and shook him gently.

"Real good to see you."

"Uh… yeah, you too," Frost answered.

He glanced over at Korsak who only raised his shoulders.

"Are you alright though?" Frost asked when Jane finally let go of him.

"Yes, perfect, I'm fine. Listen, I've got a couple of things I need you to do. I want you to dig up everything about a guy named Mason Chesterfield. And Korsak, you're going to have to help me with something."

Frost took down the name on a notepad, but still looked genuinely confused. Korsak was slowly shaking his head, but remained silent as Jane beckoned him to follow her. She walked back to her car and talked quietly with Korsak, telling him to get a few things organized.  
>Jane was determined to keep both her former and her current partner out of this, as to not foolishly risk their lives. Again.<br>She had a pretty good plan worked out in her mind, and all she needed to do was keep Frost as far away from everything as she possibly could. Confining him to the bullpen with the order to wait for Chesterfield seemed like the right thing to do, and with Korsak's help she was going to lure the killer into a trap to bring him behind bars once and for all.  
>Maybe then she would finally be able to get to the bottom of this crazy case. Not once had she gotten the chance to look over the evidence Chesterfield had supposedly collected, but Jane was sure that this time would be different and things were going to work out in her favor.<p>

"Are you sure that you are alright?" Korsak asked.

Jane must've been quiet for a little bit too long, but she quickly nodded.

"Yes really. I've got this. You know what I want you to do?"

Korsak nodded.

"Although I'm not entirely sure why. This doesn't seem to make a lot of sense if you ask me."

"Oh but it will, trust me on that."

"Okay."

With one last weary glance, Korsak nodded and turned to walk back to his car. Jane watched him climb into the vehicle and drive off.  
>She looked down at her phone and realized that she still had plenty of time until Chesterfield would show up in the alley. And although a tiny shiver ran down her spine at the though that she had been through this twice before, the urge of wanting to fix the things she had spectacularly failed at making right in the first place was far stronger.<p>

Just as Jane was about to get into her own car, she heard the clicking of heels quickly coming closer. She would recognize that sound anywhere and turned to see a slightly agitated Maura walking toward her.

"Jane, where are you going?"

"Getting breakfast, I think, and some coffee, why?"

"Because that over there is a crime scene, and you haven't even as much as glanced at the body. That is not like you."

"Oh, uh, yeah, well I am sure everyone is doing a wonderful job," Jane said.

She wasn't entirely sure how to explain her irrational behavior. The last time she'd told Maura that she had lived through this exact day once before, the doctor had read through books about psychoanalysis all day to determine what might've caused Jane to be this confused. She had eventually decided that it had something to do with Jane being overworked and gone straight to Cavanaugh to tell him that she needed to be sent on mandatory leave. But before Jane could even be summoned into the office to talk about Maura's claims, they'd gotten the call that Frost had been shot and was on his way to the hospital.  
>So this time around, Jane was a bit wiser and decided not to mention anything that could cause Maura to question her sanity.<p>

"Wanna come along?"

"No, thank you. I want to look at the body first thing when I get back," Maura answered.

She still didn't seem entirely convinced that everything was fine, but a smile from Jane had her relaxing her shoulders in a manner that Jane knew all to well.

"Then I'll see you later Maur."

-o-o-o-

This time everything went according to plan.  
>Jane waited for Chesterfield in the alley and personally accompanied him to his safe-deposit box. Inside was a large yellow envelope which supposedly held a great deal of secrets that could bring a lot of people behind bars.<br>With the information and Chesterfield safely tucked away in a room at the station, and a dozen police officers positioned in and around the house where Allison was supposed to stay with a friend, Jane was confident that she was right on the verge of cracking the case and ending the day successfully.

They had brought the girl and the entire family of her friend to a safe place nearby and were now waiting for the kidnapper to show up. Jane had given everyone a detailed description of him and there was just no way he would escape her again.  
>Jane was waiting inside the house, peeking out one of the windows and after a little less than half an hour, a car stopped in the street and a dark figure emerged. She recognized the man immediately, it was him who had killed Allison and shot her father in cold blood the other day. Or the other today.<p>

Jane shook her head. She needed to stay focused. This time neither Frost nor Korsak wear anywhere near the action and she could make sure no one got harmed along the way.  
>The man had walked up to the house, completely oblivious to what was going on. He glanced around and pushed some strands of his greasy hair out of his face.<p>

"Now," Jane spoke into the little microphone attached to the collar of her jacket.

Within seconds the entire front yard was swarming with police officers, guns drawn and pointed at the man. Jane knew it was quite a vote of confidence that no one questioned her decision to arrest this guy even though there was no evidence pointing to the fact that he was a criminal.  
>Jane stormed out of the front door, gun in both hands.<p>

"Hands above your head, I wanna see your hands."

The man however looked calmly about him, his eyes still as blue and emotionless as Jane remembered them. He slowly reached behind himself, not even breaking a sweat despite all the weapons directed at him.

"He's got a gun," someone yelled.

Jane's finger snaked around the trigger of her own gun. She had killed this bastard once before and she would do it again. No harm would come to any of those officers if she could avert it. But instead of pointing the gun at either of them, the man raised the gun to his own head, barrel snugly placed against his temple.

"Put the gun down dammit!"

There was a grim tug around his mouth as he stared at Jane with cold eyes. He wasn't afraid, and he wanted her to know it. Already in the next moment a shot rang out and blood splashed across the green lawn. The man was dead before his body hit the ground.  
>A couple of officers turned away, someone called for an ambulance, and another knelt down next to the man and shook his head.<p>

"No use, he's dead."

Jane shook her head and holstered her gun. She really would've liked to arrest this guy, find out who had hired him the first place. Because Chesterfield had sworn he had no idea who this man was when Jane had shown him the composite sketch.  
>But there was no changing it now. The threat was gone and everyone she had wanted to save was still alive. There wasn't much more she could ask for. Very few people were lucky enough to receive a second chance and this was already her third.<p>

"Time to call it a day," Jane mumbled on her way back to her car.

-o-o-o-

It was evening when Jane, Korsak, Frost and Maura sat together at their usual table at the Dirty Robber.

"I just don't get it," Frost said for the tenth time that night.

He shook his head and took another sip of his beer.

"How did you do it? Like solved the entire case without actually talking to either of us? That is some serious crazy stuff right there."

Jane just chuckled and raised her beer bottle to her lips. Both Frost and Korsak had been pestering her about how she'd managed to get everything organized, and even prevented an assassination from happening, in less than a day.  
>Unfortunately shortly after Jane had returned to the bullpen to finally look at the evidence Chesterfield had collected, a bunch of FBI agents had shown up, right along with an official warrant, and taken everything with them. Not even Jane's glare or Cavanaugh's attempt at buying them some time had done anything to stop the agents. Now the information was gone, and Jane would probably find out through the media what it was all about. But it didn't really matter to her that they would write this case onto their flags. They could have the information as long as they put Chesterfield and his daughter into witness protection.<br>Setting her beer down, Jane smirked at Frost who sat across from her.

"Why don't we just call it female intuition?"

Korsak snorted and hid a yawn behind his hand.

"Well, since I am not graced with such intuition and sat at my desk trying to solve a crime the old-fashioned way, I'm calling it a day. Good job Rizzoli."

Jane smiled and nodded.

"Night," she said when Korsak got up. He waved a hand at them and left.

Jane chatted a bit more with Frost, glad to actually have him sitting right there in front of her, while Maura nursed her white wine without saying much.

"Alright, I'm heading home too," Frost announced after a second beer.

Jane smiled and briefly rested her hand on his forearm, squeezing gently. Frost awkwardly patted her hand, seemingly confused at this rather physical display of affection.

"See you tomorrow."

"God I hope so," Jane sighed, earning another irritated glance from Frost.

"Better cut back on the beer for tonight," he warned with a wink and got up.

He grabbed the bag he had been carrying around for the better part of the day and Jane could clearly see a certain leather-bound book peeking out of it.

"Hey what's with that book anyway?"

Frost shoved the item deeper into his bag and shrugged sheepishly.

"Nothin'. Goodnight you two," he said and turned on his heel before leaving the Robber.

Jane watched him go and eventually gazed at Maura who had been suspiciously quiet the entire evening.

"Everything alright with you?" Jane asked, pushing her empty bottle aside.

Maura sighed and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. She rested her fingertips against her wine glass and tapped them against it.

"Yes I'm okay. It's just… well, something happened this morning."

"Ah crap, I totally forgot that Bass died."

"Wha… how do you know?" Maura asked, raising her eyes to look at Jane, clearly surprised.

"I… uh…put two and two together. You were pretty down the entire day and haven't spoken about Bass yet, so I concluded that something must've happened to him. Rational deduction, you know, I'm a detective."

Maura smiled at that and leaned back.

"I think it must've have been the medication, Bass responded negatively to it, but by the time I realized that it was already too late. But I went to a pet shop today, after my lunch break, to see if they had a tortoise. You know, another tortoise won't replace Bass, I had him since he was but a hatchling. Statistics however say that most people can cope with the loss of a pet better if they look for, or find another pet to devote time and affection to."

"And did you find a suitable candidate?"

"No, but I will go back tomorrow and see if they had a couple of new arrivals."

Jane nodded, watching Maura how she hid a yawn behind her hand.

"Shall we?"

"Yes."

Jane got up, and on her way to the door she wrapped an arm around Maura's shoulders, Maura's head immediately tilting toward her and coming to rest against Jane's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry about Bass Maur."

"I know, thank you."

-o-o-o-

When Jane went to bed that night, she had a small smile on her face. She rested her head on her joined hands and stared at the darkened ceiling above. The day had been successful, albeit one of the weirdest she'd ever had. But still a full-fledged victory.  
>Still she couldn't explain what exactly was happening to her. Jane wasn't a person who believed in superstition, magic or anything of the like. But for some odd reason she had lived through the exact same day three times now. It was as if she was caught in her very own version of Groundhog Day. And the truth was that there was absolutely no sane explanation for it. People would put her into a nice padded cell and a cozy straightjacket if she ever told anyone about this.<p>

But Jane was also a very practical person, and if mysteriously repeating the same freaking day over and over again meant that she could save innocent lives, then that was what she would sure as hell do.  
>Her eyelids grew heavy, and as Jane went over her day in her mind she realized that bestowing a tight hug upon Maura before parting was exactly how she liked to end it. However fried her nerves were, either because of a case or a day that repeated itself, Maura's company always managed to calm her.<p>

She wondered when Maura had become one of the most important people in her life, but couldn't pinpoint a day or time. Maura had simply wriggled her way into Jane's heart, and now there was absolutely nothing she wouldn't do for her.  
>Jane's days were always busy, and that didn't leave much time to dwell on personal things, let alone on her emotional life. But when it was dark out, and she was alone in her bed, she just couldn't help but wonder...<p>

But then again Jane was too much of a chicken to admit to her feelings, for fear that she would risk Maura's friendship. It was almost as if she used up all her bravery for her job, and none was left for her personal life.  
>Jane sighed and rolled onto her side.<p>

"Maybe I'm a psychic and solve cases before they even happen," she mumbled before she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **don't forget to review :)


	5. What You Love Most

**A/N: **a fair warning for you dear readers, there is drama and quite a bit of heavy sadness in this chapter. please leave a review and let me know what you think.

* * *

><p><strong>-There Will Always Be Another Dawn-<strong>

**Chapter Five: What You Love Most**

Jane's cell phone went off at exactly six-thirty a.m. She jerked awake and looked around.

"You've got to be freaking… kidding me," she groaned as she grabbed the device and took the call.

"Jane? This is Frost… there has been… we have…"

"You know what? Frost, can you hear me? Yeah, listen, I'll be at the station around noon okay? I'm sure you can handle it without me. Oh and don't call if you find anything."

She threw the phone away and heard it clattering across the floor. With a grunt, Jane rolled back onto her stomach and closed her eyes. She slept rather peacefully until someone repeatedly rang her doorbell and knocked on the door about three hours later. Whoever it was refused to stop even after Jane had ignored them for more than two minutes. So she eventually got out of bed and padded through her apartment only clad in a white shirt and her sleeping shorts.

"Jane, I know you're there. Open up Jane," Maura called from the other side of the door, still knocking.

"I will use the spare key you gave me if you don't open up right this instant. You said it was for emergencies and I will consider this an emergency of you continue to ignore me."

Jane chuckled lightly and raked both hands through her hair to entangle some of the strands before stepping to the door and turning the locks. Maura immediately stopped her incessant knocking and there was a moment of silence until Jane had unlocked her front door and pulled it open. Maura barged past her into the apartment without waiting for an invitation. She huffed indignantly and turned to Jane, hands on her hips.

"What is going on?"

"You're the one threatening to open my door with the spare key," Jane said with a smile, "you tell me."

"You didn't come to work this morning. Frost said he called you and you simply hung up on him without explanation."

Maura looked Jane up and down.

"And you don't show any symptoms of sickness either, so I ask you, what is going on?"

Jane smiled and shook her head. Although Maura was obviously trying to be angry with her, there was also a hint of worry around her eyes. And the way she pressed her lips together and turned the corners of her mouth downward told Jane that she was indeed upset.

"I'm sorry Maur, but I've got this all figured out."

Jane walked toward her kitchen and Maura automatically followed her.

"Want some coffee?"

Maura shook her head, still staring expectantly at Jane who busied herself with brewing some of the brown liquid.

"Chesterfield will be in the alley around noon, I'll send a couple of officers to get the girl before that and afterward I'll take care of the killer. I've actually got a foolproof plan this time. Actually I don't understand why I would have to save that asshole too, but if that is what needs to be done so I can get out of this freaking loop, then that's what I will do."

Jane reached for one of her coffee mugs and glanced at the clock in her kitchen.

"So that would've given me at least another hour of sleep, but that's okay, I can get started sooner and I'll have it all over and done by five."

Maura was staring at Jane, not moving a single muscle, with her mouth slightly agape. Jane simply waited for her coffee to get ready and poured the steaming liquid into her mug before calmly taking a small sip.

"W-what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I know exactly what is going to happen and what I have to do to make everything right. Like I have lived through this day before."

"That's… that's impossible. Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the duration of events and the intervals between them. The temporal position of events, in regard to the present, is continually changing. Future events become present, then pass further and further into the past. That process cannot be reversed, time cannot be turned back. Like I said, it's impossible."

Jane was holding her coffee mug in mid-air halfway to her mouth. She had understood the gist of what Maura had been saying and nodded slowly.

"That… really didn't help at all Maur, but still thank you for your input."

She chuckled into her cup before downing another gulp. But when Jane saw the rather frantic look in Maura's eyes she put her mug down and rounded the little kitchen isle until she stood in front of her, resting her palms on Maura's upper arms.

"Listen, I promise that I really am alright. I know this sounds crazy, I think it's crazy too, and I don't have an explanation for it either, but it will be alright."

Maura nodded slowly and covered Jane's hands with her own.

"Okay, I trust you."

"Thank you. I'm glad you're taking it much better this time."

"I know I'm not… wait, what do you mean 'this time'?"

"Hey you wouldn't know what this odd book is about that Frost and Korsak seem to be reading?"

Jane changed the subject on purpose because she wasn't in the mood to explain any of the previous days to Maura. And she had actually just remembered the book and Frost and Korsak's rather unusual behavior and was pretty curious about what was going on.

"No. No I don't."

"Alright, I'm sure I'll figure it out."

-o-o-o-

She had it all planned out. Again.  
>Chesterfield was secure, as was his safe-deposit box. Allison had already been picked up by a couple of officers and they were heading to a secret location while Jane was on her way to Franklin Park where everything would be going down. This time they would surprise the killer before he even had a chance to think about drawing his gun. She would lull him into a false sense of security before taking him down and bringing him behind bars, this time for real.<p>

It was barely two o'clock when Jane sat down on a park bench and read across the headlines of today's newspaper. Had she known that something like this was going to happen, she would've tried to get some money out of playing the lottery or betting on horse races. But now all she wanted to do was end the day without a single drop of spilled blood and go on with tomorrow like any other ordinary person.

Jane sputtered when a light breeze blew some hair into her face, and after she'd lifted a hand to tuck it behind her ear, she saw something move in the corner of her eyes. Only inclining her head slightly, she looked to the side and saw the killer, all dressed in black, strolling past her down the path, hands shoved deeply into the pockets of his jacket.  
>He obviously had overheard the conversation Jane had set up, telling him that Allison would be in the park riding her bike.<p>

An officer in plain clothes, dressed as a jogger, stopped at her park bench to stretch and catch his breath. Jane caught his eye and gave a barely visible nod which the officer returned. Jane then got up and folded her newspaper before dropping into a trash can next to the park bench. Every single person in her vicinity, the couple sitting together on the grass, the lady walking her dog and a guy shoving a hot dog into his mouth were police officers, and they all had seen the little exchange between Jane and the jogger, telling them that their target had arrived.  
>There was a certain tension in the air, and Jane hoped that the killer hadn't noticed anything yet.<br>They started closing in on him, seemingly moving randomly about the park until each had a good position, ready to strike.

The guy with the hot dog was closest to the killer, and with only a few steps he was right beside him. The woman with the dog simply let go of the leash and hurried over to help her colleague. She threw her entire weight against the man in dark and he stumbled right into the officer who grabbed both of his arms. But somehow he managed to break away and reach for his gun.

Jane was rapidly moving toward them, and she saw a flash of golden hair as she quickly looked around, but before she could even process what exactly was happening the killer had freed his gun from the back of his jeans and was trying to point it at the female officer.

"He has a gun," a familiar voice called and Jane shuddered involuntarily.

The man still struggling with him managed to grab the arm and wrench it away, so that his colleague was not in the line of fire. But still a shot rang out, and to Jane it sounded more deafening than ever before, even compared to when she had shot herself in the stomach.  
>Jane stopped dead in her tracks just as the young couple joined in on the brawl and all four of them managed to wrestle the gun out of the killer's hand before throwing him to the ground, holding him there with at least three knees on his back.<br>But Jane wasn't even looking at them. Her eyes were glued to something ahead on the path and it took her several seconds before she managed to command her legs to move. She felt all blood rushing from her face while her mouth went completely dry. She felt lightheaded for a moment and stumbled on her way to the crumpled figure.  
>Tears were gathering in her eyes, shooting forward and clouding her vision. Jane had to blink several times to be able to see again and already in the next moment she dropped to her knees on the path full of tiny sharp stones.<p>

There was movement around her, but she didn't notice much of it. Instead she tried to still her horribly shaking hands before she placed them on the body before her. Maura was quietly gasping for air, trying to suck the vital oxygen into her lungs.

"Oh my god, oh my god," Jane breathed.

She balled her hand into a fist before she pressed it firmly against Maura's chest where blood was rapidly seeping out of the gunshot wound, staining her beautiful dress.

"J-Jane."

"I'm here Maura, I'm here, it will be alright, you hear me?"

Jane cradled Maura's upper body into her lap, her hand still futilely trying to stop the blood floss. She helplessly watched how the blood stain spread across Maura's front, the material of her dress soaking up more and more of it. It gushed between her fingers, and the tears Jane had desperately trying to hold at bay now spilled down her cheeks. She trusted that someone had called an ambulance and focused solely on Maura. Their eyes met and Jane smiled through the sobs that tore from her mouth.

"You will be okay Maur, I promise."

"Jane."

When Maura said her name again, blood spilled forth across her lips and dripped down her cheek and into her hair. Her breathing sounded harsh and she was clearly struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Jane," she tried again.

"No Maur, don't speak, try to hold on, for me, please."

Maura's eyes softened and a tiny smile curved her lips as they moved, and Jane had to lean down to actually hear what Maura was saying.

"Love you Jane."

And with that her eyes fluttered close, her breathing so flat that her chest was barely moving anymore underneath Jane's hand. Maura's head rolled to the side and came to rest against Jane's stomach.

"No, no no no. Don't do this, Maura, please, stay with me."

Jane kept pleading with an unresponsive Maura, utter helplessness at the forefront of her mind.

"Where the hell is that goddamn ambulance?" she called.

"Almost here," someone answered.

Jane closed her eyes for a moment, knowing deep within that they would be too late. She had seen death wrapping his icy fingers around people too often, to not know that this was a battle already lost. At least for this day. Jane stroked her free hand through Maura's usually rich honey colored hair that was now clustered with blood. She leaned down and pressed her lips against her friend's cold forehead.

"I will make this right Maura, I promise. I will fix this, if it is the last thing I do."

Jane stayed with Maura like that, whispering to her that she would save her tomorrow, that she would keep her alive, until the paramedics arrived. They gathered an unconscious Maura onto a stretcher and hurried her over to the ambulance. Jane cradled Maura's hand in her own all the while. There was so much movement and voices everywhere, and Jane couldn't focus on anything or anyone. Only when someone rested a hand on her shoulder and stopped her from entering the ambulance along with Maura, was she brought back to the situation at hand.

"Detective, you need to let us take care of it from here," a paramedic said.

Compassion was shining in the young man's eyes and Jane realized that tears were still making their way down her cheeks. She nodded silently and stepped back so that he could climb into the ambulance and slam the doors before driving off with blaring sirens. Jane brushed both hands across her cheeks a couple of times and took a deep breath, willing the pain in her chest to recede a point where she could still focus on what needed to be done.

"What were you doing here?" Jane whispered.

Her eyes fell on a little white flyer right where Maura had been shot down. She walked over to it and picked it up, leaving red fingerprints all over the paper. It was a brochure from a small pet shop nearby, listing the several different kind of tortoises it had. A bitter smile graced Jane's lips and she crumpled the paper into a ball before throwing it into a trashcan she passed. She looked around one last time and then followed a larger path back to the parking space near the entrance of the park where she'd left her car. No one attempted to stop her and she walked briskly across the parking lot without drawing any attention until she saw him leaning against a police car. An officer was checking the killer for additional weapons while his hands were tightly cuffed behind his back. A wave of anger raced through her veins so forcefully that she felt almost light-headed. The small scars on her hands started to pulse, something she had never before felt. With a few quick strides she had walked up to the man, coming to stand directly in front of him. He simply stared back at her, showing no remorse, no emotion.

"Detective?" the officer asked.

He had stepped aside when she'd approached and now fidgeted nervously. Jane didn't even as much as look at him, instead she grabbed the front of the murderer's jacket with both hands, still stained with blood. She pulled him forward until their noses were almost touching.

"You will regret this. For the rest of your days."

Her voice was perfectly void of any feelings, just a cold promise that she would make the rest of his life living hell. With satisfaction she watched fear flicker through his eyes for a moment.

"Detective?"

Jane clenched her teeth and shoved the killer back against the car. He wasn't worth it. She had to save her energy for the coming day. She turned on her heels and finally got into her car, gripping the steering wheel tightly for a few seconds before starting the engine and driving off.

-o-o-o-

Although she was loathe to go through the same mess again, she drove to the hospital. She owed Maura that much.  
>This time however she stepped calmly out of the elevator and waited for the nurse to tell her where Maura was. But before Jane even had the chance to make her way toward the waiting area, a doctor walked toward her. She knew him, he'd been involved in one of her cases once, and Jane had basically saved him from being thrown into jail despite being innocent.<p>

"Detective Rizzoli. I am sorry, but there was nothing we could've done. Her arteries…"

Jane held up a hand to interrupt his explanations.

"She didn't make it?"

"No, I am sorry, but she didn't make it."

Jane nodded, taking a deep breath and trying to suppress a sob. She had to keep it together. There was no reason to fall apart just yet. She needed that second chance now more than ever, and all she could to stay sane for the moment was hope that it would be granted to her. She had to believe that the next day would be just the same as her last days had been. A repetition of the others, where death had no hold on people.

"Should we call someone?" the doctor asked.

"Her… her mother…I think."

Jane took a piece of paper and a pen from the nurse's desk and scribbled down a number before shoving it into the hands of the young woman who gazed at her sympathetically.

"What about you?"

"I'm fine. I'm good," Jane answered and waved her hand dismissively.

She had to get out of the hospital, away from people. Without saying another word she walked back to the elevator. She didn't even stop when the doctor called after her. There was nothing he could've done or said to help her anyway. So why waste anymore time with this day when all she wanted was tomorrow.  
>Korsak was waiting in front of her house when she pulled into the parking lot. Jane mumbled under her breath at the way he was looking at her when she approached. She didn't want to talk, and more than that she didn't want any pity.<p>

"Jane, we just heard…"

She was trying to shoulder her way past him, but he grabbed her arm and spun her back around.

"Jane, please, you need to talk about this. You can't keep it all inside, it will eat you up. I know what I'm talking about, if you bottle this up, it will come at you tenfold afterward. I know Maura was your friend…"

Korsak fell silent when he saw the look on Jane's face. Something about his last sentence sounded completely off to Jane, and she sucked in a breath when it hit her.

"Maura, she is more than just a friend…she is so much more."

"I know, Jane, I know. We tend to realize things when…"

"No. No, don't say it. Don't you dare say it," Jane hissed.

She shoved Korsak away and stormed past him to the front door of her building. Her hands were shaking as she tried to fit the key into the lock.

"Jane."

She growled quietly when the key finally slid home and turned.

"Jane."

She pushed the door open so forcefully that it slammed against the wall. A quiet groan escaped from her lips when she dashed toward the stairs and up to her apartment. It took her twice as long to open the door to her condo but she eventually managed to stumble inside and slam it shut before the steps coming down the hall reached her. Everything was sort of fuzzy and Jane could barely see past the tears in her eyes. She dropped everything to the floor, including her jacket and gun. She lost her slacks and shoes somewhere along the way and dropped into bed only in her underwear.  
>There were knocks on her door, and her phone, also discarded somewhere on the living room floor, was ringing, but she ignored it all. Instead she buried her face in her pillow.<p>

"It was so obvious, wasn't it Maur? Was it really necessary that I had to lose you for me to see what is right in front of me? A damn fine detective I am."

Jane's emotions were all over the place. She had no idea what exactly she was feeling, but it was somewhere between devastation about losing the person she cared most about and determination that she would save her the next day.  
>She sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening that she would tell Maura how she felt, tell her everything, if she was only given the chance.<p> 


	6. Finding What's Been Missing

**-There Will Always Be Another Dawn-**

**Chapter Six: Finding What's Been Missing**

Jane woke up the next morning a couple of seconds before her cell phone rang. She sat up and jumped out of bed, completely ignoring the device. She quickly put on pants over her sleeping shorts and pulled on her boots on her way to the door. Grabbing her car keys on her way out, Jane sat in her car only three minutes after half past seven.  
>The sun was still hidden behind a beautiful night sky filled with stars, but Jane had no mind to look at it. Her thoughts were filled with only one thing, Maura.<p>

While she sped down the street, completely disregarding any speed limits, she recalled everything about Maura she adored. The way her smile reached her eyes, or how her hair always seemed to smell of something sweet and delicious. Her fondness for fashion, and her devotion to her job. Jane felt silly for the single tear that escaped her eyes and traveled down to her chin where it dropped onto her jean-clad thigh. She needed Maura in her life, just as much as she needed oxygen to survive.  
>Jane smiled. Maura would've been proud that she made such a scientific comparison. Somewhere in the corner of her eye she saw a stop sign, but that was ignored too. Jane simply had no time to waste. And thankfully enough she soon turned into the street where Maura lived, her house a beacon of hope in the otherwise dark night.<br>The car came to a halt with screeching tires and Jane jumped out, hurrying to the door. She took a deep breath before raising her fist to knock. A car driving down the street sounded far too loud to her, as did the owl that was hooting somewhere in the distance. A soft breeze whispered through the tree next to her but it barely registered with Jane because of the blood pounding in her ears. To her it felt like a small eternity as she stood there, slightly freezing in the early morning chill, until the door finally opened.  
>And there she was, a slightly disheveled Maura still in the process of getting dressed with halfway applied make-up. Her eyes widened slightly when she took in Jane's appearance.<p>

"Jane? What are you doing here?"

Jane just stood there, rooted to the spot, and stared. She knew her chin quivered but this time the tears brimming in her eyes were those of joy. Maura was alive and well, right there in front of her.

"Jane? Are you alright, what happened?"

Maura took several steps toward her, still in her slippers. She gazed at Jane, furrowing her brow, and raised her hand to rest the back of it against Jane's forehead. Jane smiled broadly at the gesture and took Maura's hand to cradle it in both of her own.

"God Maura," she whispered.

She didn't know what kind of expression was on her face, but judging by the way Maura's eyes widened, it must've been something quite out of the ordinary. Jane squeezed Maura's hands before letting go and wrapping her friend into a hug. She buried her face in Maura's hair, detecting a sweet scent still clinging to it. Maura immediately returned the hug, her hands coming to rest on Jane's back, pulling them together just a bit tighter. For a moment the images from the past day flashed in front of Jane's mind's eye; a bleeding Maura in her arms, her eyes closing with a last shuddering breath.  
>Jane herself released such a breath before she leaned back to gaze at Maura, who still looked worried but a bit more at ease. Her hands traveled to Maura's shoulders where she began playing with a honey colored strand of hair.<p>

"Maura, I… I am so happy that I have you in my life. And I want you to know that."

Maura smiled and cocked her head to the side, hands now resting on Jane's hips.

"I know Jane, of course I do."

"And there's also… something else. You are my friend, my best friend, but there is… I feel…"

She was rambling, Jane knew she was, and although she had vowed that she would tell Maura how she felt, that she needed to do it, even if it meant risking their friendship, she was at loss for words. She could tell Maura how her day brightened as soon as she saw her, or how she cherished every single smile and laugh. But those things sounded so lame, Maura was much more than that. She was everything.

"What I want to say…is that there is more," Jane continued.

She didn't realize that she was rhythmically kneading Maura's shoulders in her attempt to get some of the nervousness out of her system. Maura closed her eyes for a brief moment and smiled.

"Jane?"

"And I know you see me as your friend, I am, and I want to be your friend. Forever, remember? But I want to be more than that…"

"Jane."

"…and I don't want to lose you Maura, ever. You are the most important thing in my life…"

"Jane!"

"What?"

Jane winced at the sound of her own voice. She was trying to say something very important and was not pleased about being interrupted.

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

Maura's smiled widened and she raised her hands from Jane's hips to her face, to gently cradle both cheeks in her palms.

"I feel the same way Jane, I do."

"Y-you do?"

Instead of answering, Maura leaned forward and brushed her lips across Jane's. Jane sucked in a surprised little breath and Maura simply moved further into her, drawing Jane's bottom lip between her own. Jane's blood immediately began to boil, the feeling of Maura's lips moving against her own so incredibly addicting that she could barely wrap her head around what was happening.  
>She buried her fingers in thick curvy hair and tilted her head just a tad, her tongue peeking out and moving in for a taste. Maura opened her lips and welcomed Jane's tongue with a soft swipe of her own. The detective moaned somewhere in the back of her throat, her head spinning. It really had been this simple, all she needed to do was tell Maura everything, or at least attempt to. And Maura felt the same way.<p>

The kiss ended as gently as it had begun and when Jane leaned back to look at Maura, she met a darkened gaze with her own. She slowly brushed her fingers through Maura's hair and smiled. This was real, she had Maura in her arms, and she was finally able to touch her, kiss her, show her how much she cared. Maura blinked her eyes a couple of times and Jane knew she was restarting her brain.

"Frost called, there was a murder…"

"Oh no, no no, Korsak can handle this one by himself. I'll tell him everything he needs to know. The two of us are going to call in sick today."

"But…"

"No buts. Trust me on this Maura, we are going back inside and we'll take Bass to the vet, and afterward we will not leave these four walls until tomorrow."

With that, Jane put her hands on Maura's shoulders, turned her around and guided her back to the door and inside.

-o-o-o-

Jane stretched her arms above her head lazily and gazed around herself. Something heavy and warm was resting on her chest, and she furrowed her brow as confusion crept up on her. She couldn't remember hearing her cell phone and she half-expected it to go off at any moment. But when she opened her eyes and raised her head to find out what was resting so heavily on her chest, she was greeted by curls of long honey-colored hair sprawled all over her. Jane sucked in a surprised breath. Maura mewled quietly and smacked her lips before pressing a few light kisses against Jane's skin.

"Morning," she mumbled when she raised her head and rested her chin atop her hand that she placed on Jane's collarbone.

Jane gazed back at a sleepy Maura, a smile threatening to split her face in two.

"Morning."

She carefully reached out and let her fingertips travel from Maura's temple down to her chin.

"It really is tomorrow."

Maura crinkled her brow in a way Jane found absolutely adorable.

"Of course it is. You know time is a measuring system…"

Jane could barely contain the laugh that was bubbling in her chest, causing Maura to move up and down with the motion of her laughter when it finally spilled.

"Actually I do know that."

Maura sat up and cocked her head to the side, questioningly regarding her friend. Jane grinned and also pushed herself up until she sat across from Maura. She pulled Maura into her body until their skin touched deliciously and their faces were only a breath apart.

"This is the best morning in a very very long time," Jane whispered before claiming Maura's lips in a kiss.

Maura responded immediately and pushed Jane back onto the bed to straddle her hips. Jane rested her hands on Maura's thighs, wondering what she had done to deserve this goddess atop her. Maura leaned down and they kissed deeply. Jane was certain that she would never get enough of this, never tire of having Maura in her arms.  
>She moved her hips up, causing a small growl to form in Maura's throat. Jane smiled and moved her hands upward, from a beautiful curvy stomach up Maura's ribcage, about ready to settle on two perfect round breasts when Maura's alarm went off, causing them both to jump slightly. Maura groaned quietly and buried her face in the crook of Jane's neck.<p>

"Work."

"Never knew you to be one to loathe going to work," Jane said.

She smirked at the tiny glare Maura was sending her.

"If I remember correctly it was you who convinced me to call in sick yesterday."

"That I did."

Jane gave Maura a quick peck before she moved off of her and got out of bed. It was really a sight to behold as Jane watched Maura stretch, gloriously naked, before moving toward the bathroom. Jane was still staring when Maura glanced back over her shoulder.

"Think we've got time for a shower?"

Jane chuckled darkly and jumped out of bed to hurry after Maura.

"Oh yeah, we certainly do."

-o-o-o-

"It really is tomorrow… I mean today… whatever," Jane mumbled.

Jane knew she had a silly grin on her face when she entered the bullpen, but she just couldn't help it. It was a great day. She'd spent the entire previous day and night with Maura after taking Bass to the vet just in time to save the turtle from dying of wrong medication.  
>Meanwhile Korsak had handled the case spectacularly, and with Jane's instructions he had managed to get Chesterfield and his daughter to the station before catching the killer and locking him up. His DNA was a match for several other unsolved cases and they were positive that this bastard would not set foot out of a jail ever again. Mason Chesterfield and Allison were in the bullpen as well, about to leave town and start a new life in a new city, far away from any danger and their problems. Jane walked over to Chesterfield and shook his hand.<p>

"Thank you Detective, I was told that you helped Allison and me out of this mess."

Jane nodded and smiled down at the girl.

"No need to thank me. I was just doing my job."

Allison tugged on Jane's hand and she squatted down, wanting to offer a few words of encouragement, but Allison was first to speak.

"I'm glad that my daddy came home. It took a while, but I'm happy now."

A beautiful smile spread across the girl's features and Jane couldn't help but return it. She tugged on a chain around her neck and produced a mesmerizing blue amulet from beneath her jacket. She held it out to Jane and grinned.

"That was my wish you know? I wished for everyone to be happy and I didn't want to go on until everyone was happy."

Jane eyed the blue amulet skeptically, an odd feeling gathering in the pit of her stomach.

"My mommy gave it to me before she died," Allison explained, "she said I should only wish for something if I really wanted it."

Jane exhaled a small breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and nodded.

"I think your mom was right, and you chose the right time to make that wish Allison."

The girl smiled broadly and lunged herself at Jane to pull the detective into a hug. Jane returned it and pressed a quick kiss to the girl's forehead.

"Thank you," she whispered before turning around and hurrying over to her father.

Jane watched Allison with narrowed eyes, a small smile playing around the corners of her mouth.

"No. Thank you."

If it hadn't been for the odd time warp she'd been caught in, she couldn't have saved all those lives. And she might've never had the courage to tell Maura how she really felt. Jane straightened again and sighed. She turned around when she heard the sound of heels coming toward her.

"What are you thinking?" Maura asked.

She leaned into Jane and cocked her head to the side.

"I'm thinking that I might just be the luckiest woman on earth."

She took Maura's hand into her own and squeezed gently. She gazed into Maura's eyes and found the same love she was feeling reflected back at her.

-o-o-o-

Frost and Korsak were sitting at their respective desks and shared a quick glance when they saw Jane and Maura standing so close together, their hands actually touching. Frost could barely contain the smirk threatening to emerge on his face. He took the old-looking leather-bound book he had to hide from Jane on several occasions out of his drawer and walked over to Korsak. He set the book down in front of him and raised a smug eyebrow.

"Alright alright," the older detective grumbled and got his wallet to take fifty dollars out before slapping them onto Frost's open palm.

Frost chuckled and tapped his fingertips onto the book.

"Told ya."

The title of the book was boldly printed in golden letters across the front cover. It read: Voodoo - love and soulmates, the power to find them and to bring them together.

* * *

><p><strong>AN2: **this is the end of this tale. Jane managed to solve it, so let me know what you think.


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